Classic Poem

O friend, it is a deep religious loss
To palter with our Master's pure renown;
To lose the sad precision of the Cross
In Fancy's lights, and melt away His crown;
Gazing on truth, why should our vision swim?
Let Calvary stand clear of fabulous mist,
Keep all the paths of Olivet for Christ,
And let no Orphic phantom walk with Him!
Then , and then only , welcome! what they tell
Of that majestic harp, which came full-strung
Among the woes of Hades, to compel
A pause in all her penance — of the spell
Marr'd by a look — and of that faithful tongue,
Which Death and Hebrus strove in vain to quell.